Today’s song has sparked a bicoastal legal battle with a songwriter who claims he co-wrote the song and has been denied credit and compensation.
Tyler Armes sued Austin Post, the real name of today’s artist, because he says he "spent hours in the studio jamming with [Austin] on [today’s song]"
He says he co-wrote the keyboard chords and the guitar melody in the introduction and had "significant input" on the bassline. While the lyrics hadn't been finished, Armes says the instrumentation and vocal melodies they created that night are "note for note" identical to the finished song.
Today’s artist lawyered up! His attorney argued that while Armes was present at that August 2018 recording session, he didn't write any of the music or lyrics that were used in the song — and he wasn't present for any of the subsequent sessions that led to its creation.
"It is an age-old story in the music business that when a song earns the type of runaway success that [today’s song] has garnered, an individual will come out of the woodwork, falsely claim to take credit for the song, and demand unwarranted and unearned windfall profits from the song.”
Fun Fact: Today’s song is only the second US #1 with a certain word in its title. The other was Billy Preston's "Will It Go Round In Circles," which spent two weeks atop the chart in July 1973.
When Austin Post was 9 years old, he and his family moved to Grapevine, Texas after his father, Richard Post, became the manager of concessions for the Dallas Cowboys.
Austin Post attended Grapevine High School in the Dallas suburb of Grapevine, Texas. Other famous alumni of the educational establishment include Bruce Channel, Norah Jones and Demi Lovato.
Post became interested in music as a teenager, teaching himself how to play saxophone. He has credited the video game Guitar Hero as his initial instructor for the guitar.
He chose Post Malone as his stage name in his early teens. While Post is his last name, he used a rap name generator to get "Malone."
Known for the tattoos on his face, he admits that came from a place of insecurity saying, “I don't like how I look, so I'm going to put something cool on there so I can look at myself and say, 'You look cool, kid,' and have a modicum of self-confidence when it comes to my appearance.
Tatted up and feelin' fine it's Post Malone. Circles. I know that song!